Eyes glassy and irritated.
Nails dug into the meat of his palm.
The room vibrated with the rhythm of his own survival.
Outside the paper-thin door, the world stilled.
And Seungho stood there.
Barefoot. Backlit by hallway light.
Hand hovering an inch from the doorknob—but not touching.
His breath was quiet. His body still.
Like a soldier outside a gate he was forbidden to enter.
He didn’t knock.
He didn’t leave, either.
Inside, Haneul pressed his face into the pillow and mumbled the last bird name like it was a prayer.
Outside, Seungho leaned his head against the frame and closed his eyes.
Dawn was bleeding slowly into the bruised navy of the sky.
They were inches apart.
And miles away.
??????
Chapter 37 – Supercollide
The office was too quiet.
Which meant Jaewan was furious.
Seungho didn’t flinch as the door clicked shut behind him, nor when the blinds snapped closed with surgical precision.
Only his pen paused mid-signature.
Jaewan didn’t speak right away.
He stood there in his tailored gray suit, arms crossed, tension bleeding from his jaw like smoke. His hair was too neat. His watch face glinted like a scalpel.
Finally—
“You called in a private audit of the Jang family’s logistics arm. Without board approval.”
Seungho finished the signature. Closed the folder.
“Correct.”
“You hired cyber-investigators. Leaked trade discrepancies to the press. In your own name.”
Another pause.
